Hurricane Irma Bears Down on Central Florida

Hurricane Irma, a storm that is almost 400 miles wide, makes heavy landfall on Florida Keys and Naples on Sunday. But, the storm did not bring any rain on the eastern coast of Florida. The large size of the storm has prompted forecasters to send out the warning that the entire state of Florida could be in danger. An evacuation order has been sent out to residents in the southeast. Out of the 7 million residents, only 30,000 people have taken heed of the order to evacuate.

As Hurricane Irma go through Naples, it has brought a number of problems. The strong wind causes the roof of a fire station to be detached and fly off. The wind is also causing obstacles for workers repairing the leaked pipe so that the residents will once again gain access to tap water.

The hurricane has caused 850,000 homes in Miami-Dade to be without power. Many people have started looting shops and homes that have been evacuated following the evacuation order. Curfew was imposed in several areas including Miami, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale. The curfew was imposed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. to reduce the chances of people looting.

The curfew can also reduce the chances of accidents in occurring as accidents most likely happen in the dark. There were some people who ignored the curfews and have been arrested. Nine people were caught on CCTV camera looting a sports store and pawnbroker shop.

At least 5 people have died that is associated with Hurricane Irma. One of the victims is a Hardee County sheriff. The second person to die from the storm is the prison employee who crashes in a car collision. In another accident, Deputy July Bridges who is on her way to collect supplies ends up in a vehicle collision with Sgt. Joseph Ossman who is reporting to work. Both of them died.

Irma has been forecast to head towards Georgia where 159 counties already receive a state of emergency declaration. It is the first time for Atlanta in history that it receives such a storm warning. Other states like Alabama, Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana also face the possibilities of getting affected by the storms.

When Irma hits Cudjoe Key, it is also a category 4 hurricane that travel at 130 mph. This is the same category of hurricane that hits the USA. Irma is a historic hurricane given the last major hurricane occurred 12 years ago.